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<a href="intro.html"><h2>SQLite C Interface</h2></a><h2>Evaluate An SQL Statement</h2><blockquote><pre>int sqlite3_step(sqlite3_stmt*);
</pre></blockquote><p>
After a <a href="../c3ref/stmt.html">prepared statement</a> has been prepared using either
<a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2()</a> or <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare16_v2()</a> or one of the legacy
interfaces <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare()</a> or <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare16()</a>, this function
must be called one or more times to evaluate the statement.</p>

<p>The details of the behavior of the sqlite3_step() interface depend
on whether the statement was prepared using the newer "v2" interface
<a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2()</a> and <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare16_v2()</a> or the older legacy
interface <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare()</a> and <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare16()</a>.  The use of the
new "v2" interface is recommended for new applications but the legacy
interface will continue to be supported.</p>

<p>In the legacy interface, the return value will be either <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_BUSY</a>,
<a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_DONE</a>, <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_ROW</a>, <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_ERROR</a>, or <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_MISUSE</a>.
With the "v2" interface, any of the other <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">result codes</a> or
<a href="../c3ref/c_busy_recovery.html">extended result codes</a> might be returned as well.</p>

<p><a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_BUSY</a> means that the database engine was unable to acquire the
database locks it needs to do its job.  If the statement is a <a href="../lang_transaction.html">COMMIT</a>
or occurs outside of an explicit transaction, then you can retry the
statement.  If the statement is not a <a href="../lang_transaction.html">COMMIT</a> and occurs within a
explicit transaction then you should rollback the transaction before
continuing.</p>

<p><a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_DONE</a> means that the statement has finished executing
successfully.  sqlite3_step() should not be called again on this virtual
machine without first calling <a href="../c3ref/reset.html">sqlite3_reset()</a> to reset the virtual
machine back to its initial state.</p>

<p>If the SQL statement being executed returns any data, then <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_ROW</a>
is returned each time a new row of data is ready for processing by the
caller. The values may be accessed using the <a href="../c3ref/column_blob.html">column access functions</a>.
sqlite3_step() is called again to retrieve the next row of data.</p>

<p><a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_ERROR</a> means that a run-time error (such as a constraint
violation) has occurred.  sqlite3_step() should not be called again on
the VM. More information may be found by calling <a href="../c3ref/errcode.html">sqlite3_errmsg()</a>.
With the legacy interface, a more specific error code (for example,
<a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_INTERRUPT</a>, <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_SCHEMA</a>, <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_CORRUPT</a>, and so forth)
can be obtained by calling <a href="../c3ref/reset.html">sqlite3_reset()</a> on the
<a href="../c3ref/stmt.html">prepared statement</a>.  In the "v2" interface,
the more specific error code is returned directly by sqlite3_step().</p>

<p><a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_MISUSE</a> means that the this routine was called inappropriately.
Perhaps it was called on a <a href="../c3ref/stmt.html">prepared statement</a> that has
already been <a href="../c3ref/finalize.html">finalized</a> or on one that had
previously returned <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_ERROR</a> or <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_DONE</a>.  Or it could
be the case that the same database connection is being used by two or
more threads at the same moment in time.</p>

<p>For all versions of SQLite up to and including 3.6.23.1, a call to
<a href="../c3ref/reset.html">sqlite3_reset()</a> was required after sqlite3_step() returned anything
other than <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_ROW</a> before any subsequent invocation of
sqlite3_step().  Failure to reset the prepared statement using
<a href="../c3ref/reset.html">sqlite3_reset()</a> would result in an <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_MISUSE</a> return from
sqlite3_step().  But after version 3.6.23.1, sqlite3_step() began
calling <a href="../c3ref/reset.html">sqlite3_reset()</a> automatically in this circumstance rather
than returning <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_MISUSE</a>.  This is not considered a compatibility
break because any application that ever receives an SQLITE_MISUSE error
is broken by definition.  The <a href="../compile.html#omit_autoreset">SQLITE_OMIT_AUTORESET</a> compile-time option
can be used to restore the legacy behavior.</p>

<p><b>Goofy Interface Alert:</b> In the legacy interface, the sqlite3_step()
API always returns a generic error code, <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_ERROR</a>, following any
error other than <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_BUSY</a> and <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">SQLITE_MISUSE</a>.  You must call
<a href="../c3ref/reset.html">sqlite3_reset()</a> or <a href="../c3ref/finalize.html">sqlite3_finalize()</a> in order to find one of the
specific <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">error codes</a> that better describes the error.
We admit that this is a goofy design.  The problem has been fixed
with the "v2" interface.  If you prepare all of your SQL statements
using either <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2()</a> or <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare16_v2()</a> instead
of the legacy <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare()</a> and <a href="../c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare16()</a> interfaces,
then the more specific <a href="../c3ref/c_abort.html">error codes</a> are returned directly
by sqlite3_step().  The use of the "v2" interface is recommended.
</p><p>See also lists of
  <a href="objlist.html">Objects</a>,
  <a href="constlist.html">Constants</a>, and
  <a href="funclist.html">Functions</a>.</p>
